Recently, Ryan and I have spent many afternoons baking soft pretzels. We carve out a few hours, roll up our sleeves (well, not really, it's already too hot), and knead. We turn a lump of dough into these buttery and salty twists that pair perfectly with a stone-ground mustard and a glass of beer. When I pull out that first batch of pretzels, my heart swells and my nostrils expand. Nothing smells better than freshly baked bread. I will repeat this again and again.

A few weeks ago, I shared a classic recipe for the soft-pretzels we're familiar with. The ones you can buy at ball games or at the state fair (such quaint thoughts...do we even attend these anymore?)

But after a few batches of the classic, we decided to veer into more wholesome territory. We replaced sugar with honey, all-purpose flour with stone ground whole wheat. The result? A complexly flavored pretzel that tastes even better than I had hoped.

However, all good stories contain at least one element of tension...

Ryan and I made a mistake.

In our pretzel baking frenzy of the last few weeks, we failed to notice that one of our miniature pretzels slid off its cookie tray in the oven. So when we baked our honey wheat pretzels, my kitchen began to smell more like smoke than golden brown bread.

I opened the oven door to check on our twists, and not seeing any problems, shut the door, perplexed. A few minutes later, smoke started drifting into the living room. "Something's burning," Ryan observed.

We both ran to the kitchen just as our smoke alarms began to blare. I pulled out our tray of perfectly baked honey wheat pretzels, and then saw the trouble: our lonely lost pretzel, black and smoking in the bottom of our oven.

With the help of Ryan, I swatted the smoke out of our kitchen. We doused the burning pretzel with water, and the fire alarms finally quieted down.

Nervously, we each took a bite of a cooling honey wheat pretzel. We sighed as the salty sweet dough hit our tongues. The scorched pretzel had left no mark on anyone but itself.

1. Combine the water, salt, yeast, flour, butter and honey. Using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

2. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.

3. Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.

4. In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.

5. Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving. Always,MonetAnecdotes and Apple Cores

PS. Thank you for all your lovely comments...I will respond soon. We are having the Memorial Service for Pam and Jeremy this Saturday. Your continued thoughts and prayers are much appreciated.

Oh no! I have a fear of setting off the smoke alarm after I accidentally grabbed wax paper in place of parchment and it caught fire and ruined my cookies. It's pretty funny now. I hope you can laugh about it soon. The pretzels sound yummy!

I love that you turned your beautiful treat into a more wholesome one! I'm always on the lookout for ways to do that :) They look beautiful just like their maker. Sending lots of good thoughts your way!

Yikes! Poor little burned pretzel.
It is good to see you back blogging (although i missed your first post back until today). I hope everything only gets better from here on out.
I have tried making pretzels, but they did not turn out so well. I might have to try again, this recipe looks so good!

I've been thinking lately that I really need to do a series of posts on "dippers." But I hesitate because I've done very little baking. Agh! The fear. However, these pretzels might be the perfect place to start my baking adventure.

Monet, these pretzels look so perfectly soft and chewy, and I love your little story about the first mishap, haha! Oh well, we learn and move on and try again, and it looks like your second attempt was a smashing success. Thanks for sharing! Glad to see you back and in good spirits. :)

Monet--That is SO funny! When I was preparing for a dear friend's baby shower in March, I was in a cupcake baking frenzy. I had made a jumbo cupcake in its own bowl with some leftover batter, and it promptly got forgotten in the oven. Needless to say I discovered it 2 batches later...what should have been a vanilla cupcake looked more like a dark chocolate dream!

Hi Monet! It is wonderful that you and your husband are able to spend quality time baking together :)! I have had things get lost in the oven as well and burn, later to be found, not so fun. Your pretzels sound amazing! Honey wheat is the perfect flavor profile for a pretzel, great idea :)! I love the salty and sweet you have given these! Hope you have a fabulous weekend :)!

Pretzels are one of my favorite treats...and I actually do attend at least one ball game and the state fair every year, lol! Love your healthy twist to this recipe. I'm keeping you and yours in my thoughts and prayers, my friend!

Oh my gosh, I don't know how many times I've set my silly alarm off. It's obnoxious- my sliding door is often open in the middle of December as to keep it from happening from simply roasting vegetables!

living in the philly area, we are all about soft pretzels, yours look even better! I know the feeling of trying to figure out what is burning when something gets left behind in the oven...you always find it too late!
Hope all is well, school will be over soon and I promise to be a more regular visitor!
Dennis

I hate those kitchen disasters! But I'm glad to see that it all still worked out in the end... those pretzels sound ammmazing! I love that they're with honey...I've never had made them that way. Great idea!

Losing that one pretzel is totally something I would do. I've set off the smoke alarm in my kitchen more times than I can count :) At least the others turned out fantastic! Making and eating these pretzels sounds like the perfect afternoon! Hope you have been finding time to relax and the week ahead brings you smiles and joy, Monet :)

I am just discovering your blog through TS. I love it. I was looking for something fun to make next weekend for relatives coming for a visit. The ages will range from 4 to 17. Pretzels would be a great food activity for everyone! Thank you, I'll bookmark this!

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Good post. I previousally to spend alot of my time water skiing and watching sports. It was quite possible the top sequence of my past and your content kind of reminded me of that period of my life. Cheers

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